The Reason For Living
by Dawnstorm101
Summary: Gamora has spent her life being a warrior and assassin. She's never had a real friend. Her only reason for living has been survival with the feeble hope of maybe, just maybe, being free of Thanos one day. Until a certain Terran strolls heroically into her life and gives her a real answer to the question "Why am I alive?" Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, don't own GOTG.


"I'm distracting you, ya big turd blossom!"

Between the singing and the dancing and the joke, Gamora almost smiled.

Then Drax fired.

And she saw what Peter intended to do.

The Terran leapt, his hand outstretched, straining for the glowing purple stone. Ronan reached for it, too, but Peter's momentum was carrying him closer and faster.

"NO!" Gamora screamed, reaching for Peter.

His hand closed around it.

Purple energy blasted her backwards.

All she could hear were his screams.

Her heart screamed too. Screamed two little words that suddenly defined her existence.

 _Save him!_

And suddenly, she knew why she was still alive.

-GOTG-

There had never been an escape plan. Not for Gamora. Despite her many adopted siblings, she had always been on her own. It was kill or be killed, live or die. Any failure meant death. Any mistake meant death.

She expected the same when Nebula destroyed her pod.

What else should she expect? She had insulted Rocket. She had lopped off Groot's arms. Drax blamed her for the death of his family. She had tried to kill Peter, and he had already saved her once. They had all helped her escape from prison, and for what? Nothing but more danger. Why would they want to help her again?

And maybe death would finally free her from this living hell.

So when the explosion blasted her forward, she welcomed death's cold embrace. She closed her eyes and let herself float. Ice crawled along her, encasing her in delicate frosty swirls. Peaceful unconsciousness crept over her, like a warm blanket beneath the ice. She didn't fight it.

But right before it encased her completely, something bumped into her.

 _No,_ she protested silently. _Let me be._

Her body numb, she couldn't tell what it was at first. It wrapped around her, holding her against it. It affixed something behind her ear, and suddenly she sucked in a breath, warmth tickling her face.

Just as suddenly, she realized what – or rather, who – held her.

Gamora forced her eyes open, blinking to adjust to the mask. The same icy swirls that covered her now covered him, his eyes becoming bloodshot as he froze.

 _No,_ she protested again. _Peter, you'll die!_

But the words wouldn't escape her frozen lips.

Peter turned his face away from her, looking towards an approaching light.

 _Get back to your pod!_

Something latched onto them, pulling them towards something – into a ship. A Ravager ship.

They collapsed onto the floor, and not a second too soon. Gamora shivered, welcoming the warmth flooding her bones. Above her, Peter gasped for air, struggling to stay upright. She braced him, holding her arms against his chest.

"Quill?" she whispered. "Why…?" _Why did you save me?_

His eyes, returned to their normal coloring, searched her face. One of his hands came up as if to hold her face, but he pulled it back.

Part of her wished he hadn't.

"I saw you out there, and I don't know what came over me, but I couldn't let you die. I found something inside of myself. Something… incredibly heroic. I mean, not to brag, but-"

Gamora sighed. Moment had. Moment killed.

But no one had ever said that about her. _"I couldn't let you die."_ No one since her parents had cared so much.

 _He saved my life. Twice. Could've gotten himself killed the first time. Got himself captured_ and _almost killed himself the second time._

 _Why?_

-GOTG-

Watching him grab the Infinity Stone, the answer finally exploded across her mind.

Friendship. Love. Family.

Somehow, this music-loving Terran had grown to care for a lifelong monster. Despite her attempt to steal from and kill him. Despite the dangers associated with knowing her. Despite a personality that sent most people running.

Somehow, he had taken her into his heart. A heart that was maybe too big for its own good.

And he had found his way into hers. A heart closed off from all attachments. At least, it tried to be. Clearly, it didn't work, especially in the case of a certain music-loving, self-sacrificing Terran.

And now he was dying for her. Again.

Well, not just for her. Her rational side knew that. There were billions of other lives urging Peter to catch that stone.

But somehow, this felt personal. Like, yes, Peter had billions on his mind, including Drax and Rocket and the Ravagers, but also like he had one life in particular on his mind: Her life. Gamora's life.

There was only one way to thank him.

She dragged herself forward, towards his heart-wrenching screams, until she was on her feet. Her hair whipped around her as she squinted into the purple storm. Peter stood in the center, his hands clenched into fists, purple energy zigzagging through his skin and tearing him apart. His jaws gaped in a massive, unending scream, though sound had stopped coming out.

Gamora reached out, straining with everything she had, every ounce of strength borne of raw emotion and unwanted enhancements that she could muster.

"PETER!" she screamed. "Take my hand!"

Only a tiny part of her hoped they were a group that could successfully share the blazing energy. But if holding his hand could lessen even a little of the pain literally etched into his body, then she would hold his hand. She would hold his hand until the bitter, brutal end.

It was the type of end she had always expected, after all. She had just never expected to meet it with a friend.

Slowly, his head turned towards her. But for a moment, he just stared. Maybe his lips moved, but the electric purple cracks in his face made it hard to tell.

His skin was literally floating away from him.

"TAKE MY HAND!" she screamed desperately.

With agonizing slowness, he reached out.

Their hands connected.

White-hot agony seared through her entire being. She flung her head back, shrieking her pain to the world. But she could hear Peter again.

In this one instance, screams brought her a shred of comfort.

The pain lessened as another scream sounded from Peter's other side. Peter's screams eased.

A fourth scream sounded.

And the screams stopped.

The pain dissipated. Power surged through her instead, and she aimed a fiery glare at Ronan.

"You're mortal!" her former boss protested. "How?!"

Peter's voice sounded beside her, beautifully strong and steady. "You said it yourself, bitch. We're the Guardians of the Galaxy."

Ronan yelled, swinging back his hammer to strike, but Peter unleashed a current of violet fire.

Gamora watched in satisfaction as Ronan blew up.

Then she slammed the cover over the stone.

Like a crash after a high, the power left her. She wobbled, her knees buckling. She reached for Peter and he held her – clung to her, really. For a moment, they drowned in each other's eyes, holding one another upright, every word they could possibly say and more flashing along that invisible connection.

Of course, Yondu had to show up and kill the moment. Only a small part of her thought Peter would actually give Yondu the weapon of mass destruction, but she let that part out to lend credulity to his act. She wasn't the least bit surprised when he pulled the real stone out of his knapsack.

"He's gonna be so pissed when he realizes I switched out the Orb on him," Peter observed, half-jokingly.

Gamora chuckled. "He was gonna kill you, Peter."

"Oh, I know," Peter muttered. "But he was about the only family I had."

Gamora shook her head. "No," she murmured, reaching out to hold his bloody hand in both of hers. "He wasn't."

Peter smiled at her, a source of pure light even through all the dirt and blood.

 _This,_ she thought, smiling back, _is all I ever need._

 _This is why I'm alive._


End file.
